“How do you know what I’ll find important?” Marissa challenged, her hands balled into fists as she swung toward me. “Wait. Do you know what this meeting is about?”
Why can I never keep my lips zipped? Never. Not even when it’s in my best interest. Things like this always blow up in my face. You would think, eventually, I would get it together. “Um ...” I looked to Bonnie for help but she appeared equally curious.
“You do know what the meeting is about,” Bonnie noted, shaking her head. “What’s up with that? Why would Rooster tell you and not us?”
I held her gaze for a beat, and then a hint of movement registered out of the corner of my eye. “Hold that thought.” I pulsed a bolt of magic, this time blue, in the direction of the attacking Spriggan and froze him in place. I stepped wide of Marissa, took a long look at the leaping Spriggan, and then used my fist to punch through the creature. It turned to dust the second I made contact. “Okay, what were we talking about?”
Marissa rolled her eyes so hard I worried she might take a tumble in the creek. She was already in a bad mood. A wet fall would send her over the edge. “We were talking about the meeting at the Cauldron,” she gritted out. “Bonnie and I are in the dark regarding what it’s about. You, however, seem to know everything.”
“I wouldn’t say everything.” I leaned around Bonnie and blasted another incoming Spriggan, this time using my magic to send a rock through it after unleashing the freezing spell. It would take forever to take out the creatures using this method but at least there was no risk of my co-workers getting wet and dirty, which was apparently the absolute worst thing that could ever happen.
“You know what the meeting is about,” Bonnie pressed. “Perhaps you should tell us.”
“Drake is coming.” Even saying his name was difficult. I took advantage of two Spriggans deciding to double-team us and sent twin bolts of freezing magic out to the right and left, picking up a branch from the ground and using it like a bat to destroy the creatures before turning back. “You remember Drake, right?”
Of course they remembered him. How could they forget? He’d come to town weeks before, aligned with another group of wolf shifters who wanted to cause trouble, and basically threatened my life. Eventually, even though he was reticent to admit it, Drake explained how the pack alpha and his son had taken his sister and were using her as a bargaining chip. We stepped in to save the sister and he’d split ties with the pack. Since then he’d been quiet while taking care of his sister, nursing her back to health.
“I don’t understand why we need a full meeting for him,” Marissa replied with a scowl. “I hope Rooster isn’t going to invite him in. That would suck.”
I hadn’t even considered that. “I don’t know that Drake is ready for that. I believe he’s agreed to the meeting because of me.” I ducked my head as an incoming Spriggan flew in low and cringed when he landed on Marissa.
“Omigod!” Marissa, who was supposed to be a badass fighter, screeched like a teenaged girl and smacked at the creature as it made gnawing noises and went for her throat. “Get it off!”
“Oh, calm down,” I said, grabbing the Spriggan by the back of its neck and dosing it with the freezing magic before dismantling it and throwing it to the ground. “They’re not all that dangerous.”
Marissa was practically apoplectic. “Excuse me! They have teeth. Also, these specific Spriggans have been attacking hikers in the woods.”
“Nobody has died,” I argued calmly. “We’ve got that going for us.”
“Nobody has died yet,” Bonnie countered calmly. “That’s the operative word. Yet. Spriggans are dangerous in groups. They nest, which is what’s happening here. You don’t have a problem with them but the rest of us do.”
“Yes, not all of us are Children of the Stars,” Marissa sneered, causing my stomach to twist. “Not all of us are being touted as the second coming of ... whatever strong witch made everyone freak out.”
It took everything I had not to attack Marissa. Although I couldn’t stand her, not even a little, she wasn’t exactly wrong. A lot had been made about my past. One term — Child of the Stars — had been repeated over and over again. I had no idea what it meant. Drake claimed to have at least an inkling. Given what his sister had gone through at the hands of tyrannical jerkwads, we gave him time to tend to her before demanding answers.
Now he was joining us, and the secrets of my past felt somehow closer, and yet also a million miles away. I hadn’t yet made up my mind to trust Drake. Even if he did provide information, would it be something actionable? Would it be more mumbo jumbo? It was impossible to know.
“I didn’t realize he was back and ready to spill his guts,” Bonnie noted, her eyes speculative as they roamed my face.
I did my best to avoid eye contact. “I got the word yesterday. I didn’t realize when Rooster set the meeting that he’d invited everyone.”
“Of course not.” Marissa rolled her eyes. “In your opinion, we’re not as worthy to hear the information as you.”
“That’s not true.” I shook my head. “That’s not even a little bit true. I think you guys have a right to be there. It’s just ... I don’t know what to make of it. The entire thing is hard for me to digest.”
“It must be doubly hard after what happened with the vampires,” Bonnie remarked.
I swallowed hard but kept my face immovable. That was another thing I wasn’t sure I could talk about. The vampires.
They’d stolen into town weeks before and set up shop at an old house on a hill. I’d
